Nicolas Winding Refn may direct spiritual sequel to Valhalla Rising: Mads Mikkelsen just wrapped up a fantastic season of Hannibal and he may re-team with director Nicolas Winding Refn for a “spiritual sequel” to the viking drama, Valhalla Rising. Mikkelsen played a viking named One-Eye, who escapes from a prison with the help of a young boy and the two board a viking ship for a new land. The “sequel” would take place in modern day Tokyo and Mikkelsen may or not play the same character.
Dwayne Johnson rumored to join Terminator 5: Arnold revealed that Terminator 5 might start shooting early next year and there’s a rumor that The Rock may be up for a part in the movie. I would pay all the money for The Rock to play an evil Terminator, up against Arnold’s classic Terminator.
Fox announces a bunch of release dates: Two coming the soonest are Dawn of the Planet of the Apes coming in July of 2014 and X-Men: Days of Future Past coming in May of 2014. Independence Day 2 and Assassin’s Creed are coming in the summer of 2015
Robert Downey Jr. back for Avengers 2 & 3: There was a lot of worry that Iron Man 3 might be the last movie to feature Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark but he just signed a new deal with Marvel to appear in Avengers 2 and 3. The deal doesn’t include any future Iron Man movies, but you better believe they most likely do anything they can to get him back for at least one more.
Universal picks up rights to Locke & Key: Originally supposed to be a show on Fox, the fantastic comic Locke & Key, which follows the Locke siblings as they explore the properties of a number of magical keys they discover in their new home, is now most likely going to be a movie, as Universal just bought the rights.
RIP James Gandolfini: Sad news from Italy as we learned that James Gandolfini passed away from a heart attack while on vacation. He was 51. Gandolfini is, obviously, best known for playing Tony Soprano but also add memorable roles in movies like True Romance, Crimson Tide, The Mexican and 8MM.
No Mary Jane in Amazing Spider-Man 2: Shailene Woodley, of The Descendants, was cast and apparently finished her scenes to appear as Mary Jane Watson in Amazing Spider-Man 2 but news came out this week that MJ will not appear in the movie, all the scenes have been cut and they may pursue a new actress for the character in the upcoming sequels. Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4 have already been greenlit by Sony. Actress Felicity Jones may have revealed that she could potentially be playing Felicia Hardy/Black Cat in the movie this week as well.
There may be multiple monsters in Godzila?: Legendary Pictures has an epic monster mash on the way in a few weeks with Pacific Rim and next year, they are bringing back the King of the Monsters with a reboot of Godzilla. According to press release that was sent out to merchandisers, there may be multiple monsters, as the press release mentions “spectacular creatures” as part of the appeal of the movie. No word if it could be a classic foe of Godzilla back or entirely new creatures.
Ken Levine hired to write Logan’s Run remake: A remake of the 70’s sci fi classic, Logan’s Run, has been in development for while, with Ryan Gosling and Nicholas Winding Refn most recently attached. A new version has been put into production with Bioshock creator, Ken Levine, penning the script. The original movie and book are set in a society where people are killed once they reach a certain age. If anyone attempts to avoid their fate, special operatives called Sandmen hunt down the “runners”.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For pushed back to 2014: No reason for the delay but Robert Rodriguez’s sequel to Sin City has been pushed back to the end of Summer 2014, August 22, 2014 to be exact. Guardians of the Galaxy, The Expendables 3 and a new version of Dracula are all coming out that month as well.
Ryan Reynolds drops out of Highlander remake: Perhaps a sign that it’s a bad idea, the long gestating Highlander remake lost another lead actor as Ryan Reynolds dropped out of the project. A string of directors and actors have been attached to Summit Pictures project and all have dropped for various reasons.
